We tested it for you: the guided tour of the Sare caves in the Basque Country

In the Basque country, 80 km from the campsite, we visited the Sare caves, one of the most visited sites in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Discover!

In the Basque Country, just an hour and a half's drive from our Le Vieux Port Camping Village Resort & Spa, we took you on a guided tour of the Grottes de Sare, one of the most visited sites in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. An unusual trip to the Basque country that's well worth the diversions. The Lezea cave, museum and megalithic park welcome almost 100,000 visitors every year. Discover it!

The adventure begins in Sare, a typical village at the foot of the Rhune and Axuria mountains.

80 km from the campsite, our guide is waiting for us in Sare, a typically Basque village in the heart of the Rhune massif, listed as one of the "most beautiful villages in France". The astonishment begins at the foot of the cave. The entrance porch impresses with its colossal dimensions: 50 m wide, 15 m high. After the usual introductions, we're ready to explore the Sare cave as it was over 2 million years ago!

Hush, don't wake the cave bear...

The Grottes de Sare offer a 900-metre "sound and light" tour, divided between different rooms and underground galleries on two levels. There's no doubt about it, we are indeed in the bowels of the Earth. Our guide explains that the Basque Country was covered by a warm tropical sea 90 million years ago. The sea retreated and the formation of the Pyrenees revealed large, raised limestone massifs. Over the millennia, rainwater infiltration shaped the rock to create gours, tubulures and meanders, as well as habitats for animals and humans.
We learn that the caves of Sare were inhabited successively by cave bears, Neolithic hunters and farmers-breeders during the Bronze Age. This ancient occupation is evidenced by the living room we discover in the middle of the trail. It was used by the first humans 45,000 years ago. Today, bats have replaced humans and a dozen different species inhabit the caves of Sare. We were able to observe some of them. It was an opportunity for us to find out more about their essential role in the ecosystem.

The visit continues with the museum and the megalithic park

For a more in-depth look at the subject, a visit to the Grottes de Sare museum is a must. Here you can discover a wealth of prehistoric remains found during archaeological digs carried out on the site, including flint tools, reindeer antlers, polished axes and arrowheads. A special section is dedicated to the Basque patriarch José Miguel de Barandiaran, an anthropologist with a passion for Basque archaeology and mythology who died in 1991. After visiting the museum, we extend our experience in the field, in the open-air megalithic park where reconstructions of funerary monuments erected by man 5,000 years ago are on display: dolmen, cromlech and tumuli...
In short, it's a fascinating site, with clear, detailed explanations for everyone and many references to Basque mythology. In short, an idea for a family outing that we highly recommend for your next camping holiday in the Basque Country! Find out more (opening times, access, prices) at: www.grottesdesare.fr